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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 4903336, member: 19463&quot;]My page included a comparison image but photos have trouble making the point as well as holding the things in hand.&nbsp;&nbsp; My single example here shows the nummus at a bit high weight since 40 x 0.46=18.4 while 17.29 / 40 = 0.43.&nbsp; personally, I believe we can forgive a 0.03 slop factor when we consider the size of the coin and the number that were made in a minute with the technology available.&nbsp; Your little fellow suffers from numismatic hardening of the arteries or a bunch of calcium deposits that may account for some of its overweight assuming your 40 coin is similar in weight to mine.&nbsp; It might look a little better if you put in in distilled water to see if any of that surplus &#039;fat&#039; came off but, again IMO, we can not expect the things to be exactly on weight for every specimen. </p><p><br /></p><p>From my page:</p><p><img src="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/smlate4.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> <span style="color: #0059b3">The value of the nummus was so little that most purchases required a bag (follis) full. In 498 A.D. Emperor Anastasius reformed the coinage issuing bronze denominations up to 40 nummia (a &quot;follis&quot;) with values marked on the reverse in Greek numerals (M=40). For comparison, our photo includes an 8mm, 0.46g. pre-reform single nummus of Anastasius and a 35mm, 17.29g. post reform 40. The styles and weight standards would vary greatly over the following centuries but the follis of 40 nummia became the standard bronze coin of the Byzantine economy. Several were shown in our previous feature page on <a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/feac70byz.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/feac70byz.html" rel="nofollow">Byzantine coins</a>.</span>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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